Disappointed with a potential order from Heartland

Last Friday, I stopped in at Long View RV near Tampa to inquire about three items. They called Heartland and called me back today with price quotes on the following...

1. One of my aluminum rims developed a crack not too far from where the valve stem is. Cannot be fixed, so I was hoping to order a new aluminum wheel from Heartland - needed an eight bolt 110 psi wheel for my load range G tire. Tire had gone down overnight in Georgia where I had parked, so there was no damage to the tire. Was told the price was $215 for a wheel and tire. I did not want a tire, but was told that the wheel is not available by itself. I had already discarded some Trail America tires when I had a blowout last summer and had replaced them with Goodyear SRT614 tires - sure do not want another Chinese tire.

2. Asked about a price for a replacement plastic heat register. Was told it would be $24. Funny thing here is that they had some in the parts area at Long View, but not the same color, but the same size for $15-16. Guess I will use the link that was on the forum that has purchase price of around $3.

3. Asked about obtaining a sticker for the unit that has all of the manufacturers' 800 numbers on it (like the ones that come in the newer units). Was told it would cost $15. Told them "no thanks".

Frankly, I was very disappointed with these answers.

I do understand that individual parts cost more than the sum total of these parts on the unit, but I thought these prices were outrageous. And, not being able to order a wheel without a tire - ridiculous.

cdbMidland said:

.....
1. One of my aluminum rims developed a crack not too far from where the valve stem is. Cannot be fixed, so I was hoping to order a new aluminum wheel from Heartland - needed an eight bolt 110 psi wheel for my load range G tire. Tire had gone down overnight in Georgia where I had parked, so there was no damage to the tire. Was told the price was $215 for a wheel and tire. I did not want a tire, but was told that the wheel is not available by itself. I had already discarded some Trail America tires when I had a blowout last summer and had replaced them with Goodyear SRT614 tires - sure do not want another Chinese tire.

......

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Why don't you use the wheel from the spare, put it on the trailer, and purchase a new non-matching wheel from a local tire shop for a spare???

The Bighorn spare has a white wheel. Have you checked the air in your spare lately

Ray is correct. When you order aluminum wheels as an option, it was only for 4 wheels. The spare was a steel wheel and that is what is on right now. Ray also brings up a good point. When I travel, I use 110 psi cold and when I brought down the spare, it was only at 80 psi. Fortunately, I was parked at a Cracker Barrel and had a compressor with me and one of the kitchen help opened a storage door for me that had a 110 outlet, so I was able to inflate the spare before the tow truck arrived to change the tire. I even had the flat reinflated, but, of course, that only divulged the leak in the wheel.

I do try to check the spare before leaving for a trip, but on January 4, I had to take my 5er out of a storage area that had several inches of snow on the ground.

One other word - make sure when running on a spare that you frequently retorque the lug nuts. I did this at every rest area from McDonough GA to Lakeland FL and always had to tighten the lugs. I think steel wheels tend to need more attention than do aluminum wheels.

"3. Asked about obtaining a sticker for the unit that has all of the manufacturers' 800 numbers on it (like the ones that come in the newer units). Was told it would cost $15. Told them "no thanks"."

There ought to be an online resource with this information, either right here or at Heartland's own site. List could be referenced and printed as needed.

Sol said:

There ought to be an online resource with this information, either right here or at Heartland's own site. List could be referenced and printed as needed.

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You mean something like this?

Granted, it's quite bare right now, but when I get home I'm going to populate it with all the data that's on the sticker in my coach.

LK

Get a hold of Tredit Tire and Wheel, they sold me a wheel for $75, the aluminum wheels actually need to be re - torqued more frequently than the steel.......

One thing I did when I got the Heartland Service numbers I put them into my Cell Phone Directory so I have them handy when on the road.../Doug

linuxkidd said:

You mean something like this?

Granted, it's quite bare right now, but when I get home I'm going to populate it with all the data that's on the sticker in my coach.

LK

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Bingo! And, thank you.

Cracked Wheel???????????

Wow I really didn't want to hear cracked wheel. We went thru this with our other 5er. We just replace all the Tredit wheels with Alcoa Aluminum wheels??? We haven't even went and pick-up our Big Horn and am getting concerned about some of the problems. I'm in the process of getting some Goodyear G-614 tires to replace the Chinese made tires. Really don't want the cracked wheel problem. How many others have had the cracked aluminum wheel problem. We had two crack after about 10,000 miles... GBY.....

Hi all,

I know it is tempting to have discussion on Chuck's topics here but Chuck posted it here in the ATF for the factory to weigh in publicly to him.

The factory gets an email when every single post is made here. I just don't want them to get bogged down with all the discussion replies is all I am saying. Please consider sending Chuck PMs or emails through the forum if you wish to engage him on these items.

Alternatively, please consider starting a new thread in the best-fit sub-forum.

Thanks for understanding

Jim

Delaine and Lindy said:

Wow I really didn't want to hear cracked wheel. We went thru this with our other 5er. We just replace all the Tredit wheels with Alcoa Aluminum wheels??? We haven't even went and pick-up our Big Horn and am getting concerned about some of the problems. I'm in the process of getting some Goodyear G-614 tires to replace the Chinese made tires. Really don't want the cracked wheel problem. How many others have had the cracked aluminum wheel problem. We had two crack after about 10,000 miles... GBY.....

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In the year and a half or so that I have been a forum member I have heard very little of cracked wheels. You might try a search using cracked wheel as a keyword. Keep in mind when you replace your tires that your wheels must meet the psi and load ratings of your tires.

Chuck,

I would like to start-off by stating that Heartland does not have any control over the pricing that dealers set for the parts they offer. Dealers are their own entity, not owned by Heartland RV. My advice to you would be to check with other suppliers and dealers to see if you can get any “better pricing”

As for the rim, it can be ordered from us without the tire, and I would imagine that would decrease the price. The sticker I have and am working with the forum to have it readily available to all.